Magic
by Secret Girlfriend
Summary: Nationals in New York! Amazing right? Of course, especially when everything Rachel finds the man she's been missing.


**Hi! Yeah, it's been a while and I meant to type and post this oneshot like, beofre the season finale! So let's pretend that we have no idea what happened and accept this as a better ending! :D And for Just a Drummer followers.. I'M SO SORRY! But hand in there! I'll get back on it soon! But yeah, review! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Rachel stepped off the plane and into the airport, in New York! New directions was in freaking New York! For freaking Nationals! So yeah, she wasn't the only one beaming when the Statue of Liberty was right outside the window.<p>

Quinn came up behind her. "You ready for this?"

"You have no freaking clue." Rachel smiled linking arms with her best friend. Sure she'd been to New York a bunch of times, but this time was with her friends, people who actually cared for her. It was awesome.

But the glee club was at its prime. Everyone was on friendly terms with each other, or at least easily ignoring each other. Their songs for Nationals were kick ass and Rachel was pumped!

They all took cabs to their hotel which was a few blocks away from t he theatre they'd be performing at in three days. The lobby was packed with all the other show choirs but they pushed their way through the crowd. Their plan was to have an easy night and watch everyone the next day at rehearsals. The following day they could wander around until their closed rehearsal time. Friday would be the big day.

Rachel though kept and eye out for the back of a tall curly haired man. She couldn't find him though.

Quinn found their room first and Brittany and Rachel followed in. It was spacious and grand. Tina, Mercedes, Santana and Lauren piled into the room as well as Brittany had lost a coin toss as to whose room would be the dressing room.

Santana sprawled across Rachel's bed. "So Rach, guess who I saw in the lobby with Vocal Adrenaline?"

Rachel's heart stopped for a second. "Who?"

"That little Sunshine girl? Remember? The one you tried to send to a whacky house?"

Rachel sighed with relief. "Oh yeah. I remember. What about her?"

"Just thought you should know there's a confident little smirk on her face that we need to wipe off her."

The girls laughed and started talking about their numbers. Rachel was focused on the scenery outside the window. Quinn came and joined her. "What's really on your mind B?"

She sighed. Of course she couldn't hide anything from Quinn. "Later."

"No, now." Quinn grabbed her wrist and dragged Rachel out of the room. She brought her down to the pool, where only a few families were swimming or splashing around.

Sitting down on plastic pool chairs, Quinn let go of Rachel. "Spill."

"Please Quinn. I really don't want to talk about this right now. Not until it actually matters."

"Now see, that only makes me more curious. Spill."

Rolling her eyes Rachel gave in. "You know how I've been saying lately I'm into a guy you don't know?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you know him."

"God no Rach. Since when?"

Rachel blushed. Was she that easy to read? "Since I wrote Get It Right. It made me think about the relationship I had with Jesse. It was the only one where things weren't forced. I was a hundred percent me with him. He was real with me."

"But Rach, it ended with eggs all over your body."

"That's only because he was a puppet on strings being pulled away from me," Rachel quickly shot back, defending her ex. "Plus his loyalty belonged with his school at the time. Things could be different now."

"And if they aren't?"

"I guess we'll never know."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not. Haven't you always said New York is the most magical place ever?"

Rachel nodded. "Then if it's meant to happen, it will happen here."

Rachel smiled at Quinn's optimism. How things had changed between them.

They exited the pool to join their friends for dinner. Rachel noticed Quinn glancing at Puck every thirty seconds. "Quinn… spill."

Quinn rolled her eyes but lowered her voice. "You know how I've been saying I don't like anyone?"

"Right?"

"I lied."

"Figured."

"I didn't want to tell you," Quinn said apologetically. "I didn't know if you'd be mad after yours and Puck's short lived relationship."

It was true. Puck and Rachel had tried to go out again after Regional's. She'd also gone out with a few guys from Dalton that she'd met through Kurt. All of them had felt wrong though, especially Puck. They'd decided that they were more like long lost siblings.

"Quinn, you know how Puck and I ended. Of course I'm not mad at you. I think you guys would be cute."

"Thanks B." Quinn hugged her friend. Over Quinn's shoulder Rachel caught Puck staring at them.

Everyone seemed to sleep well that night. Except Rachel. She was to busy tossing and turning while going over different scenarios in her head.

What if Jesse wasn't even here? Sure that would be a good sign that things weren't meant to be, but she'd still be stuck with the same feelings in her heart when she had left for New York, alone and empty. She needed closure.

And if she did see Jesse? What then? What if he totally ignored her? That would crush her. But if her approached her? What would he say? Would he feel the same way she did?

She finally decided Quinn was right. New York was magic. What was meant to happen would happen. But she didn't think finally falling asleep at one in the morning was meant to happen.

* * *

><p>Rachel was nervous and jumpy the next morning. Puck noticed at breakfast and sat down across from her and Quinn. "What's with you midget?"<p>

"Ha funny. You know how I've said there's no one you really need to beat up?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I half lied. You shouldn't be beating up anyone, but I assumer there's someone here you want to beat up."

He glanced at Quinn. "No."

She sighed. "Yes."

"Am I seriously that easy to read?"

"For us? Yes."

Rachel rolled her eyes and continued eating. Her eyes were darting around everywhere. She couldn't find him.

Getting up, Quinn went to talk to Brittany. Rachel stayed back with Puck. "Noah, I have a question."

"Shoot B."

"You like Quinn."

"That's not a question."

"You didn't respond."

He paused. "Yeah… a little."

Rachel didn't say anything but smiled. "What do you know that I don't?"

"Nothing." Her smirk gave her away though. "I just think you should go for it. Just my idea. But then again, since when have you ever listened to me." She ran ahead to catch Mercedes and Santana leaving behind a puzzled Puck.

They all walked down to the theatre at eleven, which was also packed. Rachel's eyes were darting everywhere. She wasn't even listening to Mr. Schue rattle off everyone's different club names.

She wasn't paying attention to where she was walking either. Once in the auditorium there were hundreds of people so she was having a hard time not running into people. One time it was such a bad crash both Rachel and the other person fell to the floor. Looking across from her, Rachel saw Sunshine.

Her heart stopped. He must be here. "Hi."

Sunshine didn't say anything. She just scowled and jumped up and walked away.

"Wait!" Rachel yelled and ran after her. "Is Jesse somewhere?"

"Why would you care?" she snapped back.

Rachel ignored her bitterness and scanned the room one more time. Nope. Nothing.

Turning to find her group they had already taken their seats. They could watch the first few groups before they headed back stage to get ready.

It wasn't like she was actually watching though. Her mind was running through the idea of not seeing Jesse at all this week. She couldn't live with that. She'd find him.

Rachel didn't really notice when Quinn yanked her out of her seat to get ready. She was just kind of floating at the back of the group. When Puck finally hit her in the back of her head she snapped back to what was currently happening.

She was at Nationals! Why was she allowing herself to be distracted? They'd all worked their asses off for this and now was not the time to lose focus! In that moment she changed her mind. No more Jesse searching.

She whispered this to Quinn who gave her a nod of agreement. "I know why you want to see him but now isn't the time. He's still the enemy."

Rachel giggled with her friend as they entered the dressing room. The atmosphere was relaxed. Apparently the first few groups had only been average. Nothing special.

Vocal Adrenaline had not been apart of that group though.

Rachel was having trouble with her dress and was behind the others. She was hopping out of the dressing room while putting on her black flat when they all marched by, led by Sunshine.

None of them even glanced over at her but that wasn't surprising. They were all in nice neat lines, marching in step. Kind of creepy.

The tall man at the back though was a different story. Curly hair and all, Jesse seemed perfectly at ease. Until he locked eyes with Rachel. His eyes almost made her heart stop.

She tried to hop past without stopping but he caught her by the arm and turned her to face him. He brought his lips to hers for only a moment and then pulled away. "I've wanted to do that for a long time," he whispered right next to her ear.

Shivers ran down Rachel's spine. It took everything she had not to kiss him again and she stammered out, "You could've been doing it all along."

She tried to turn and run bur Jesse kept a strong grip on her. "Look, I know you're on in like, thirty seconds, so I can't explain everything now. But if you meet me tonight in the lobby at eleven, I'll tell you everything you want to know. Just meet me."

Rachel could hear desperation in Jesse's voice. But, should she? "Jesse, I-"

"Don't answer now. Is your cell number still the same?"

She gave a slight nod.

"Good. Think about it. Now go perform." He looked into Rachel's eyes another second longer then turned away. She waited until he was around the corner to unfreeze and started running. "Quinn!"

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

Rachel turned up the music on her dock to try to drown out the rain outside. Nothing would work though, so she gave up and walked over to Noah who was sitting by the window.

Normally she loved this kind of weather but right now she was sick of it. The rain hadn't stopped for two days and she really needed to concentrate on her mid term paper.

"I've never seen you this jumpy Rach. It's just a bit of rain."

Rachel rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "It's more than a bit. Forty eight hours is more like an ocean." She crawled into his lap and pushed away his math homework. She leaned up to kiss him.

"Rachel Berry wanting to make out instead of do homework? Now this is something I thought I'd never see."

"Shut up and enjoy it Puckermen." There was a soft knock on Rachel's door though and a creek of hinges. Her dad poked his head in.

"Honey, there's someone at the door for you."

Puzzled but curious Rachel got off Puck and went down to the door. She was surprised to find a soaking Quinn Fabray in front of her. "Quinn? What's up?"

She didn't say anything, just shook. Thinking it was from the cold Rachel pulled her inside and put a blanket around her. Setting her down on the couch she asked again, "Quinn, what's wrong? Is everything okay?"

Quinn managed to shake her head and let out a loud sob. Rachel saw that half of the drops on Quinn's face were tears. "Quinn, what's wrong?" Rahcel repeated with more force.

It took Quinn a moment to regain her breath but she eventually said, "Finn. He cheated on me."

"Oh no. Quinn, I'm so sorry." Rachel pulled the blonde into a tight hug.

She was still talking though. "I don't even know who it was. I just found her belt in his back seat. He just stared. Couldn't say anything. He just kept looking between me and the belt. I was so pissed. I just threw the belt at him and jumped out the car and started running. I didn't even know where I was going and somehow ended up here."

By now Puck had come down the stairs but when he saw the tears he tried to run back up stairs. "Noah," Rachel said, "grab the ice cream out the freezer."

Puck didn't hesitate and ran into the kitchen. "Listen Quinn, I know how much this sucks right now. But I'm not going to give you the 'He's a dumb ass and you deserve better' speech yet. Right now, enjoy the ice cream and pick out a movie."

Quinn looked up at Rachel in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"No, I'm going to throw you back out in the rain and let you deal with this on your own."

And somehow, Quinn smiled.

* * *

><p>From that night on, Quinn and Rachel had been there for each other. And that included now. Rachel couldn't remember actually performing but Puck said she hadn't screwed up too badly. She could live with that right now.<p>

It was nearly impossible for her to sit through the rest of the performances. Twitching and shaking Quinn and Puck had to basically hold her down. Except during the Vocal Adrenaline performance. Then she was completely motionless. It felt like she couldn't breathe.

That kiss had been the most incredible, perfect and magical kiss she'd had in a long time. Even more than her buzz kiss with Blaine. She hadn't had that type of kiss on over a year.

She started squirming again on the walk back to the hotel. She was restless. Couldn't keep still. There was too much energy and excitement and fear in her all at once. Once at the hotel she yanked Quinn into the elevator and Puck followed. Rachel locked the door behind them once in the room and Puck immediately asked, "So what's up twitchy?"

"I talked to him. Well more like he talked to me."

The simple statement got two very different reactions from her friends. "Oh my gosh, Rach." Quinn came forward and hugged the brunette, sympathetic.

Puck had a stony look on his face though, both fists clenched. "What did he say?"

Rachel pulled away from Quinn. "It didn't start with talking,"

"B, you didn't let him, did you?"

"Yes, he kissed me."

The rest of Puck's body tensed up. "I'll be right back."

"No!" Both girls yelled. Quinn grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the door. He seemed to relax under her touch. "You're not beating him up Noah! I wanted to kiss him!"

"Fine," Puck said, still angry. "Convince me not to go beat him up."

"Well," Rachel said soothingly, "the kiss only lasted about a second and he said it was up to me whether or not we started talking again."

"Fine!" Puck pulled away from Quinn and headed toward the door. "I won't kill him, yet." Yanking open the door he looked back. "Before you tell Quinn everything you're not telling me though, let me say this. Remember what he did to you Rach. Remember the pain, the hurt, the confusion, the eggs." With a quick snap the door shut.

Quinn looked back at Rachel. "Are you going to cry or do you just need a hug?"

"Hug please," Rachel said frowning. What was she going to do? Puck so mad! Was seeing Jesse tonight worth his fury and the possibly destruction of Jesse?

Quinn squeezed her friend tightly. "I know this sucks right now, but it's all going to work out."

Rachel thought about it. Other than Puck's obvious fury, it wasn't all that bad. She wanted to see him so badly. But what if this was just a trick? And even if it wasn't, could she keep focus for another two days?

Rachel shook her head. "I don't want to think about it for a couple hours. I have four hours to make a decision and I need the team to see me calm right now. If their leader isn't ready, who will be?"

Quinn paused on their way down the hall to the elevators. "Wait, why do you have only four hours?"

"Oh yeah, Noah was right. There was something I didn't tell you guys." Rachel explained Jesse's request. She could tell Quinn was unsure of what to do. When she was about to comment, Rachel interrupted. "Let's not talk about it right now. Let's just go get some dinner."

At dinner was at ease except for Puck. He couldn't seem to settle down. Rachel figured this is what she must've looked like at the rehearsal. After his legs had been jerking around for about five minutes Rachel kicked him. "Will you calm down? It's not that bad!"

"It's not that," Puck shot back. "And ow!" he said bending down to rub his leg. He checked to make sure people weren't listening. Quinn was currently talking with Mike. "I want to ask Quinn to go around New York with me tomorrow, but I'm worried. She's shot me down enough.

Rachel glanced at Quinn and smirked. "Trust me, you'll be fine."

It was already quarter to eleven when Brittany finally fell asleep. Turning to Quinn once Brittany started talking about her cat in her sleep, she noticed the bright white smile Quinn had been wearing since after dinner. "Is it possible for you to stop smiling?"

"Not really," Quinn smiled back.

"Good you should be happy. I'm happy. You two should've been together ages ago."

"Thanks B." The two girls hugged. But when Quinn pulled away she was frowning slightly. "Have you thought about it at all?"

"As hard as I've tried to block it out, yes I've thought about it. I've thought about everything that could go right and everything that could go wrong."

"Well, do you want to go?" It sounded so simple that way.

"Do even have to ask that? I've wanted to see him for over a year. Of course I want to go!"

"Well, then what's stopping you?"

Rachel thought about what scared her most. "What if I don't love him anymore? What if I've just built this up in my overly dramatic head? Or he's changed so much he's not the same person I loved last year?"

"If you don't go, then how will you ever know?" Quinn said soothingly to calm the panicky Rachel. "Look, this comes down to what I said at the pool. New York is magic. Puck finally asked me out. That's proof enough for me. Why did your dress not work? Why was Vocal Adrenaline marching past our dressing room at the exact moment you came out? I mean come on! I know you know you want to go! And the only way to find out if you love him and he love's you is to go, now!"

Rachel finally smiled and hugged the most amazing person she knew. "Thanks Quinn,"

Just then her phone buzzed.

**Jesse 3: It's 10:58. You coming?**

She looked up at Quinn, who nodded.

**Rachel: I'll be right down.**

* * *

><p>A lot of things ran through Rachel's mind on the short ride down to the lobby.<p>

What if Mr. Schue came down to the lobby for some reason? What if this all just a trick to distract her? Or to hurt her, physically and mentally? What if Jesse had changed so much she couldn't love him?

She finally made herself stop thinking. It wasn't helping her to put all of these thoughts in her head. Taking a few deep breaths, Rachel thought about what Quinn had said. If this wasn't meant to happen, her zipper would've worked on one of the first eight tugs.

Stepping out of the elevator, Rachel saw Jesse in front of a fire place on the other side of the lobby. She couldn't contain herself. Breaking into a run she jumped into his arms. Giggling as he spun her around her heart swelled. It felt right to be back in his arms.

Jesse set her down gently and leaned in to kiss her. She almost lost all senses and let him but quickly pushed him away. "Wait, you need to tell me everything I want to know first." Rachel had made up a list of questions for him while squirming around at the rehearsal. If she let Jesses kiss her first, she would probably forget all about them.

Jesse eyed Rachel, most likely considering it was worth it or not. He sighed. "I didn't want to do this yet but okay, we'll do it you're way tonight."

"Like you have a choice," Rachel said.

Laughing, he put his hand on the small of her back and led her outside. There the pair was under a thousand city lights. To Rachel, it was her favorite sight in the world.

"Beautiful. Isn't it?"

"The lights are incredible," Rachel said in a daze.

"Oh, I was talking about you."

Rachel blushed and looked up into Jesse's stormy grey eyes. "Charm won't get you out of anything."

"Fine." He tugged her by the hand and they started walking. "Fire away."

Rachel was afraid to do this. What if he gave her the wrong answers? But she would never know if she didn't ask.

"Is this a trick, what we're doing right now? There aren't any Vocal Andrenalines lurking in an alley ready to jump me?"

Jesse laughed at her concern. God, she had missed that laugh. "It's not funny!" she shouted back even though she was laughing along with him. "I'm a little afraid for my life right now!"

Jesses was still smiling. "Over dramatic as usual, but no. I'm not with you right now so some idiots cam come out and kill you. If there are any, I'll be the first to protect you."

"Okay." Rachel relaxed a little, but he still had a long way to go. "Why did you do what my mom asked you to do? I mean, what kind of person leads someone on as much as you did?"

Jesses had known this was coming and quickly responded. "At first, it was all just for a solo. Don't look so surprised!" he said to Rachel's shocked expression. "At the time that's all that really mattered. But as I thought about what I was doing, or attempting to do anyway, it became more. As I got to know you, I knew that was the fairy tale ending you wanted. Be reunited with your mom and have your knight in shining armor, which I knew would be me."

The second part of his speech had been perfect, but it wasn't enough. "Then why did you leave?"

Jesses paused. How could he say this without sounding like an ass? When he decided how, he went on. "Now, I don't know. I don't know why I let go of the most beautiful girl I have ever come to know. But back then, Nationals was everything. Getting the fourth win was what I thought would complete me…. but-"

"But? Was winning not worth all the effort you'd put in for it?" Rachel was confused. Other than Jesse, the only thing on her mind was making all the extras rehearsals worth it.

"My first win was worth everything. By the fourth time, I think I had made one too many sacrifices for some stupid trophy."

Awww! Rachel almost let that escape her mouth and almost fell into his arms. Almost. "So, did you love me? Or were you lying when you said it to me?"

Jesses gazed deeply at Rachel, but she wouldn't meet his perfect eyes, knowing she would melt at the sight. "I'm slightly insulted you need to ask that. I never lied to you Rachel. Stretched the truth and left things unresolved? Yes. But I never lied. I loved you."

"And…" She was so afraid. "Do you still feel that way?" Rachel held her breath.

Jesse's answer was much shorter than the rest. "Rachel Berry, I never stopped."

Rachel finally allowed herself to look at Jesses, her heart inflated to twice its size, filled with joy. He'd never stopped.

Jesses looked expectant. "Is there anything else?"

"One more thing." Rachel went up on her tip toes to kiss him. "How are you?"

* * *

><p>Rachel crawled into her bed around 4 AM. She wanted to talk to Quinn about her night but she was fast asleep, still smiling. They were both lucky.<p>

After the Q&A, Jesse and Rachel had walked around New York for hours just catching up. Jesse wasn't happy to hear about Finn but he relaxed when she told him how everything had ended. "At least you used Puck. I have a lot of respect for him."

Rachel smiled had the memory. She wondered what Puck would say about it. Probably he'd be furious for her going in the first place, but she didn't know how he would take the compliment.

They'd come back to the hotel around 3:30 because Jesse had Vocal Adrenaline's closed rehearsal at six. They planned to meet at ten outside the hotel. They'd have the entire day together until Rachel had New Direction's rehearsal at seven.

Dozing off, Rachel's last thought was about Jesse's good night kiss. Well… more like goodnight make out.

* * *

><p>The sun came into the room to early for Rachel. Not only the sun, but Quinn to. She hopped on top of Rachel at eight, all energetic and bouncy. "How did it go? Was it amazing? Was her jerk? Did you get mugged?"<p>

It took almost all of Rachel's energy to push the hyper blonde off of her. She fell onto the floor but hopped right back up and yanked the sheets off of Rachel. The air conditioning hit her and she immediately woke up.

"That's it. You're going down blondie."

Rachel sprang from her bed and pounced on Quinn. Both were laughing and rolling around when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" they both yelled through their laughter.

"Hey Quinn," Puck said walking in. "Is midget up yet?" He stopped when he saw the two girls still rolling around on the floor. Grinning he stood above them watching. "Calm down girls. If you really like each other that way, why not just give each other a nice, long kiss. Give Puck a little show."

The girls stopped rolling around and looked up at Puck. They looked at each other with evil smirks on their faces.

"Well, you heard him."

"Let's give him a show."

Puck grinned as they slowly stood up but it vanished when they both tackled him onto the bed. It didn't take him long to throw both him off him, but they were all laughing.

Catching their breath, Rachel and Quinn stood up still laughing.

"So by the look of it, I'm afraid to hear about Rachel's night and I'm extremely excited for my date with Quinn today."

Quinn blushed slightly but crawled onto the bed and curled up next to him. Both looked expectantly at Rachel as she took a seat at the window. When she didn't anything Quinn snapped, "I didn't jump on for no reason this morning! Tell us about last night!"

Rachel blushed. "It was perfect."

Quinn was smiling and clapping with excitement while Rachel told them about her date. Puck listened with a stony face, but he relaxed when she told him what Jesse had said about him.

When Rachel was finished Quinn got up and hugged her. "I'm so happy for you B. It couldn't have gone any better for you."

Pulling away Rachel looked over at Puck. "Do you still object to me and Jesse?"

He sighed. "I guess you could date worse."

Rachel smiled and hugged her other friend. Considering how he felt last night, that was more than she could ask for.

Everyone's moods had done a complete one eighty from the night before. There was no more wondering, no more crying, no more squirming. Just smiling.

Puck and Quinn left for their free day and Rachel went down to eat. At ten she met Jesse, who looked even more handsome to her than the night before which she wouldn't have believed possible. Taking his hand they left for their magical day in New York.

* * *

><p>Meeting Quinn and Puck at seven they walked to the theatre. There they met Mr. Schue who greeted them with a rather serious expression. He wasn't alone. Everyone was standing on stage with nervous or anxious expressions. It was the first time they'd all calmed down since arriving in New York.<p>

Rachel had almost forgotten why they were in New York in the first place. But seeing everyone together brought her back to reality. In less than twenty four hours they would know if the extra rehearsals would all be worth it.

Back at the hotel Quinn and Rachel were up after Brittany again talking about their dates, For Rachel and Jesse they had picked up exactly where they had left off. Talking about musicals to school to life everything they had said or done has been real. Easy. Natural. Magic.

Quinn and Puck had done a little as it was their first trip to New York. They'd gone to Central Park, the Statue of Liberty and other tourist traps. But for Quinn it had been the same. Easy. Natural. Magic.

The morning was crazy as everyone got ready to perform. Tension was high but so was the excitement.

At the theatre all the groups sat in the balcony anxiously waiting for their call. New Directions had to sit through fourteen groups before they headed back stage and then had to wait for two more groups to finish.

All the clubs had been good so far. New Directions was better though. That's all Rachel could tell herself as she waited behind the curtain.

Vocal Adrenaline was performing before them. Rachel's draw dropped as Sunshine belted her solo. She was better than she remembered. But she was better. She couldn't convince herself though.

"Remember," a voice said behind her making Rachel jump. "Even though I'm their assistant coach, I'm still cheering for you."

Rachel smiled at Jesse's voice. Turning around she looked up into his perfect eyes. Her entire body seemed to relax. "You mean it?"

Jesse laughed. "Of course I do. True, I will laugh if Finn falls on his face. But I hope you do well."

Rachel smirked. "Be nice." She kissed him quickly. "Now stop distracting me."

He gave her one last quick and then disappeared.

Rachel felt better now. This week had already gone perfect. Why wouldn't this?

"Fraternizing with the enemy?" Rachel laughed as Quinn came up beside her. "Ready to kick some Vocal Adrenaline ass?"

"Always."

Applause. Quinn and Rachel got into place. Deep breath and suddenly they were walking out on stage.

Puck took center. A piano started playing and Rachel thought of the note she would turn to the audience and add harmonies with Mercedes, Quinn and Kurt. The Puck started.

_From the back of your big brown eyes  
>I knew you'd be gone as soon as you could<br>And I hoped you would  
>We could see that you weren't yourself<br>And the lines on your face did tell  
>It's just as well<em>  
><em>You'd never be yourself again<em>

_Saw you last night_  
><em>Dance by the light of the moon<em>  
><em>Stars in your eyes<em>  
><em>Free from the life that you knew<em>

_You're the magic that holds the sky up from the ground_  
><em>You're the breath that blows these cool winds 'round<em>  
><em>Trading places with an angel now<em>

_Saw you last night_  
><em>Dance by the light of the moon<em>  
><em>Stars in your eyes<em>  
><em>Free from the life that you knew<em>  
><em>Saw you last night<em>  
><em>Stars in the sky<em>  
><em>Smiled in my room<em>

_You're magic_

Applause. Rachel and Quinn got ready for the second song, but they weren't worried. It would go perfectly, just like Magic.

* * *

><p>Rachel couldn't wipe the smile off her face, even three hours later on the plane. Even though she was exhausted. Her grin grew as Mike and Puck handed back New Directions third place trophy to Quinn. They were all taking turns holding it.<p>

"So, week in review," Quinn said, her smile as wide as Rachel's. "I have Puck, you have Jesse and we destroyed Vocal Adrenaline at Nationals in New York City."

"Yup, that sounds like everything." The girls laughed as Rachel took her turn with the trophy. Vocal Adrenaline had fallen off their very high pedestal. Dropping from last year's victory, to fourteenth place, seeing Sunshine's heart broken face had made Rachel's day. Hearing them called up for their third had been even better. Jesse finding her after and giving her a congratulations kiss had been the best.

"So when will you guys see each other again?"

Rachel's face fell a little. "In two months. He'll be flying back to Ohio for the summer. It's going to suck until then."

"No it won't," Quinn said cheerily. "You'll have me and Puck!"

"Yes, you two making out half the time. Perfect." Rachel rolled her eyes but smiled at her friend.

Kurt turned in his seat to take the trophy. "So how was your ladies' trip to New York?"

"Perfect."

"Amazing."

"Wonderful."

"Fantastic."

Kurt laughed. "Okay, now describe it in one word."

The two best friends grinned. "Magic."


End file.
